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About Support and Privacy

What is “Supporting”?
Supporting a Thunderclap campaign is like signing a petition but with the added power of simultaneously sharing a message. You and every other supporter are standing up for an idea with the power of your voice.

How do I support?
Choose between your Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr account to grant Thunderclap permission to post a message on your behalf. That’s it! If the campaign reaches its support goal by the deadline, Thunderclap will automatically post your message and all other supporters' messages at the same time.

A note on privacy
When you log into Thunderclap using your Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr account, you’re allowing our platform to share a single message on your behalf. That’s all. We use the absolute minimum permissions possible to post a message on your behalf. The platforms we integrate with sometimes include additional permissions that we do not use and we will not post anything from your friends' accounts.

On January 21, 2014, Reeyot Alemu, an award-winning journalist imprisoned for two and half years in Ethiopia, turns 33 while in bad health and arbitrarily denied visits from her sister, fiancé, relatives and friends. Why? Because she wrote newspaper columns with candid criticisms of her government's policies. In a society ruled by the fear of the state security, Reeyot knew full well the risk she was taking, but she was committed to truth-telling and delivered candid expressions of conscience against public corruption, power abuse, and injustice as her country underwent rapid strides in development but slid in tyranny. Reeyot is one of 8 journalists currently imprisoned in Ethiopia, which trails only Eritrea among Africa's worst jailers of journalists.

Reeyot Alemu has become a global icon of the struggle for a free press and intellectual freedom and journalists like Christiane Amanpour have spoken out on her behalf. An indomitable spirit and principled woman, she is a 2012 laureate of the International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award, the 2013 recipient of the UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, and she was a finalist of the 2013 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Join an international community of well-wishers in sending a synchronized birthday message across social media platforms to Reeyot. Your support and solidarity can help her have a happier birthday and fuel her strength as she weathers harsh prison conditions and continues an international legal battle against a politically-motivated conviction on trumped-up terrorism charges.

How to show your support:

1. At the top of the page, choose to support with Twitter, Facebook, or both, and get friends and followers to do the same.

2. Sign the petition of Safe World for Women calling for Reeyot's release

3. · Donate to the Media Legal Defence
Initiative's fund for Reeyot’s international appeal against her conviction

4. · Use the hashgtag #ReeyotAlemu follow up and tweet in support of Reeyot. You can also direct appeals to Ethiopia's Foreign Minister @DrTedros and the Ethiopian Health Minister @KeseteA

5. On 21 January, watch as everyone's messages are simultaneously shared across the world.